UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

LOS ANGELES, March 22 (UPI) -- Los Angeles County investigators have opened a welfare fraud probe into Nadya Suleman, the so-called octomom, who started receiving assistance in January.

The Los Angeles County Department of Welfare Fraud Prevention and Investigation is looking into Suleman, 37, who became infamous in January 2009 when she gave birth to eight children, ABC News reported Friday.

Suleman, who has 14 children, is entitled to welfare assistance if she makes less than $119,000, E! online reported. She originally stopped accepting welfare last summer.

Gina Rodriguez, a representative for Suleman, said in January the mother was going back on assistance because she had spent all of her income from strip dancing, a pornographic film and other publicity appearances and sought out "state assistance for a brief period of time."

Rodriguez said Suleman's savings were depleted when she entered rehab in October for "anxiety, exhaustion and stress."

Suleman faces as much as three years in prison if convicted of fraud.

Penguins take liking to iPad cat game

LONG BEACH, Calif., March 22 (UPI) -- Officials at a California aquarium said a couple of young penguins have taken a liking to a mouse-chasing iPad app designed to amuse cats.

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach said penguins Jeremy and Newsom, who are still too young to get caught up in the excitement of the upcoming mating season, have found "enrichment" with the free "Game for Cats" iPad app, ABC News reported Friday.

The game features a mouse running around the screen that lets out a squeak when tapped by a paw -- or in this case, a beak.

"Newsom set the penguin high score of 1,600 for the game," the aquarium said on its website.

A YouTube video of Newsom playing the game has been viewed more than 167,000 times.

Man wants Bitcoins for Alberta bungalow

EDMONTON, Alberta, March 22 (UPI) -- A man selling his Alberta bungalow is asking for about $400,000 -- or 5,613 digital Bitcoins -- with a preference for the Bitcoins.

Taylor More, 22, a former currency trader, said he prefers Bitcoins, worth $72.50 each, for the two-room bungalow on 2.9 acres because he believes there is a future for the digital currency, which Walmart recently began accepting for purchase of gift cards, ABC News reported Friday.

"I just really believe in them and once I read my first article about them, I was hooked," More said. "I can take control of my own money, I don't have to worry about the government stepping in and taking it and freezing my account.

"I have a few ventures that I am working on that involves Bitcoins and I am going to need a lot of Bitcoins to do them. I thought this might help Bitcoin gain some ground, once people see that you can actually buy a piece of property or a physical tangible thing," More said.

He said he can't yet reveal the details of his planned ventures.

"If someone had a partial payment in Bitcoins, I would be willing to negotiate, but I wouldn't turn down somebody who had cash," More said.

Prosecutor files groundhog 'indictment'

HAMILTON, Ohio, March 22 (UPI) -- An Ohio prosecutor has filed a tongue-in-cheek "indictment" against Punxsutawney Phil, accusing the groundhog of incorrectly predicting the weather.

Michael Gmoser of the Butler County, Ohio, prosecutor's office said the groundhog, which is called on each Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, Pa., to predict the start of spring, "did purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause people to believe that spring would come early," CNN reported Friday.

I woke up this morning and the wind was blowing, the snow was flying, the temperatures were falling, and I said 'Punxsutawney, you let us down,'" Gmoser told CNN.

John Griffiths, one of Phil's handlers, defended the groundhog's predictions.

"If you remember two weeks ago on a Sunday, it was probably 60, 65 degrees," he said. "So, I mean, that basically counts as an early spring."

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